For Solar Grade Silicon, the last news was Timminco Announces Ground-breaking for Becancour Solar Silicon Facility on July 30, 2007. Timminco began construction of the Bécancour Solar Silicon Facility consisting of three production lines each yielding an expected minimum of 1,200 metric tons of Solar Grade Silicon per year. The first line should begin operation in the fourth quarter of 2007 with the second and third lines coming online in the first quarter of 2008. Solar Grade Silicon capacity should then ramp to an annual run rate of at least 3,600 metric tons per year by the second quarter of 2008.

Timminco entered the silicon metal (metallurgical silicon) business in earnest with the acquisition of Bécancour Silicon Inc. in September 2004. The Bécancour Silicon Inc. (BSI) subsidiary has 50,000 metric tons of silicon metal and ferrosilicon production capacity per year. BSI’s customers for silicon metal are purported to include five of the largest silicon and polysilicon producers in Western Europe.

Becancour Silicon Inc.(“BSI”), has reached agreement to sell high purity silicon to a solar cell manufacturer. The agreement provides for a minimum of 1,500 metric tons (“mt”) and up to 5,000 mts over an initial term of 5 years subject to BSI’s increased production capacity and customer agreement.

I first heard of Timminco Limitedat the PV Industry Forum 2007 from Carolina Vargas, a Research Analyst with Clarus Securities Inc. Since then, Ms. Vargas has shared an investment research report on Timminco titled “Here Comes the Silicon” published May 9, 2007. In the report, Clarus initiated coverage on Timminco:

with a BUY recommendation and a 12-month target price of $6.00 [Ed. Note: CAD] per share. We recommend risk-tolerant investors own shares of Timminco to participate in its tremendous growth opportunity as a silicon supplier to the solar industry.

I must have had my head in the quartz to have missed this company for so long! René Boisvert (now President and Chief Executive Officer), Bécancour Silicon Inc., presented “The Silbec Process for the production of solar grade silicon” at the PHOTON EXPO 4th Solar Silicon Conference.